Inter Europol Competition could hardly have asked for a better build-up to the 4 Hours of Silverstone. The #43 has been the benchmark from the test day onwards, with Tom Dillmann setting the fastest lap of the combined running and, more importantly for an endurance race, the car also sitting at the top of the Top 10, Top 25 and Top 40 lap averages.
It is not simply a case of one qualifying-style lap either. The #43 is second quickest in Sector 1 and fastest in both Sectors 2 and 3. Team-mate #34 reverses the order in Sector 1 and sits second to #43 in the other two, giving Inter Europol a remarkable one-two in every sector.
The speed trap tells another encouraging story. The #43 is not the car producing the biggest headline number on the Hangar Straight — that belongs to the #37 CLX — but it remains right among the strongest cars when multiple trap readings are averaged. In other words, the #43’s pace is not being manufactured by a low-downforce straight-line setup. It looks quick everywhere.
Update: He also put it on pole! They look set for the race. The analysis below only shows practice times and doesn’t include qualifying.
Lappery
There has been plenty of running across Thursday’s two collective tests and the subsequent practice sessions, although the totals vary considerably.
In LMP2, Algarve Pro’s #25 has accumulated the most usable laps in our dataset, narrowly ahead of Forestier Racing by Panis’ #29. #43 is also comfortably into a substantial programme with 169 laps. The obvious outlier is the #28 IDEC Sport car with only 114. The official test-day timing shows why much of the deficit arose: #28 completed a normal 32 laps in the morning but only 10 in the afternoon, compared with more than 60 for several rivals. I have not found a published explanation for why that afternoon running ended so early, so it would be wrong to invent one. The important point is that the low total does not appear to reflect a lack of pace.
The #34 Inter Europol car is also a little down on the leading LMP2 mileage. There is at least one known reason for that: it became an innocent third car in the major FP1 accident involving the #50 Ferrari and #99 Oreca. The stewards found that Custodio Toledo lost control of #50, collided with #99 on rejoining and sent both cars into the barriers, with #34 then caught up in the incident.
LMP2 Pro/Am has produced some enormous totals. Rossa Racing by Virage’s #19 leads the way at 198 laps, with the #88 Proton also well into the 190s. Several others are around or beyond the 180-lap mark. That is a lot of useful mileage for a category where getting all three drivers comfortable — particularly the bronze — is central to the race.
LMP3 is remarkably even. Team Virage’s #8 has done the most running, just ahead of the #13 Inter Europol Ligier, and almost the entire class sits in a fairly tight mileage range. There is no glaring lost-running story here in the way there is for #28 or #50.
In LMGT3 the #63 Iron Lynx Mercedes leads the mileage, just ahead of the #55 Spirit of Race Ferrari. The enormous outlier is the #50 Richard Mille AF Corse Ferrari with only 95 laps. That one is readily explained: after a solid test day, its FP1 ended with the Turn 3/4 accident with #99 that sent both cars into the barriers.
The Averages
LMP2 belongs to Inter Europol so far. Dillmann’s #43 has the fastest outright lap and leads every one of our average-lap measures. The #25 Algarve Pro, #34 Inter Europol and #29 Forestier Racing by Panis form the main chasing group, although the order changes depending on how deep into the lap distribution we look. That is exactly why the averages are useful: one lap tells us who found the ultimate peak, while 10, 25 or 40 laps tells us rather more about the car we might expect to see over four hours.
In LMP2 Pro/Am, the #20 Algarve Pro car is the benchmark. Malthe Jakobsen produced the quickest Pro/Am lap and the car also leads the wider averages. AF Corse’s #83, TDS Racing’s #14 and Nielsen’s #27 all look competitive behind it. The important point is how heavily these figures can be influenced by who has been driving.
LMP3 is much tighter. Louis Iglesias and the #17 CLX Ligier have the fastest lap and strongest short-run pace, but the #85 R-ace GP Duqueine becomes particularly impressive as the sample expands. It leads both the Top 25 and Top 40 averages. On current evidence this looks less like one dominant car and more like a genuine CLX versus R-ace GP contest.
LMGT3 has a clearer leader. Wayne Boyd put the #23 United Autosports McLaren fastest and it also tops the Top 10, Top 25 and Top 40 averages. The #59 Aston Martin has excellent peak pace, while the #57 Kessel Ferrari and #63 Mercedes become increasingly convincing when more laps are included.
The class differences are worth keeping in perspective. LMP2 and LMP2 Pro/Am use the same fundamental machinery, and the fastest Pro/Am lap is less than a second from the overall benchmark. The bigger separation appears when we average many laps because Pro/Am must incorporate its bronze driver. That is a real race-performance factor, but it is not a measure of the underlying car.
There is then a very substantial jump of roughly ten seconds to LMP3, followed by another step of just under five seconds to LMGT3.
This is also why the driver table is useful alongside the car averages. Giving bronze drivers substantial practice is absolutely the right thing to do — their performance will matter enormously on Sunday — but mixing those laps into a car’s overall distribution inevitably pulls the Pro/Am average down relative to pure LMP2.
When Fastest laps were set
The LMP2 picture is striking because so much of the fastest running came before the official race weekend really got going. Seven of the eleven regular LMP2 cars set their best lap in the second Thursday test session, including the first five in the combined ranking. The #43, #34, #29, #25 and #10 all found their ultimate pace there.
The later full practice sessions did improve several cars — notably CLX #37 and both IDEC entries — but nobody displaced Dillmann’s Thursday benchmark. That suggests the test-day conditions were particularly favourable for outright LMP2 performance.
Pro/Am is much more scattered. The #20’s best came in Test Day 2, while #83 and #19 found their best in the first test. Others improved in the proper practice sessions. That variation makes sense in a class where driver allocation can have as much influence on the timing sheet as changing track conditions.
LMP3 is similarly mixed. CLX #17 and R-ace GP #85 set their best times on Thursday, while Team Virage #8 and several others found more on Friday practice. There has been no single obvious magic session for the class.
LMGT3 is different again. Most of the really competitive laps have come during the later free-practice running rather than the test day, including the #23 McLaren, #59 Aston Martin, #57 Ferrari and #63 Mercedes. The GT field has clearly continued to find performance as the weekend has progressed.
The bronze-only running in between the full practice sessions needs to be remembered when looking at the combined plots. It is excellent preparation for Sunday, but it naturally adds a different pace profile to the dataset.
Sectors
LMP2 is where the #43 story becomes particularly impressive. Inter Europol has locked out the top two positions in all three sectors. #34 leads Sector 1 from #43; #43 then leads #34 in Sectors 2 and 3. Algarve Pro’s #25 is the most consistent challenger, while the Forestier #29 is particularly strong through the first part of the lap.
It is exactly the sort of dataset Silverstone should produce. This is a magnificent circuit for prototypes: very fast, loaded with direction changes and with places where aerodynamic confidence matters every bit as much as horsepower. Watching LMP2s work through it properly is one of those occasions where staring at timing data makes you wish you were standing beside the circuit instead.
In Pro/Am, the #83 AF Corse car is quickest in Sector 1, the #20 Algarve Pro leads Sector 2 and Nielsen’s #27 tops Sector 3. The #20 is nevertheless the car that combines the three parts of the lap most convincingly, which matches its position at the top of the overall class averages.
LMP3 provides perhaps the neatest split. The #85 Duqueine leads both Sectors 1 and 2, while the #17 CLX Ligier is quickest in Sector 3. That fits the broader statistics nicely: CLX has the ultimate lap and short-run advantage, while R-ace GP looks exceptionally repeatable.
In LMGT3, the #23 McLaren leads Sectors 1 and 3 but not Sector 2. That honour belongs to the #57 Kessel Ferrari. The #63 Mercedes is perhaps the most consistently placed challenger, sitting close to the front in all three. It is another reminder of just how good Silverstone is at exposing the different strengths of these cars. Frankly, it would be rather better analysing this from the circuit.
Speed Trap
The speed trap sits on the Hangar Straight, so this gives us a particularly useful look at terminal speed before Stowe.
In LMP2, the biggest individual number belongs to the #37 CLX Oreca, while Nielsen’s #24 and Forestier’s #29 are also particularly quick. The #43 does not need to lead that table: its repeated trap averages are among the strongest and, combined with its sector performance, suggest a very well-rounded setup rather than a car sacrificing corner performance to chase a top-speed number.
The Pro/Am speed figures reinforce that point. Vector’s #7 is extremely quick through the trap, while the class-leading #20 Algarve Pro is not. Yet #20 remains the fastest Pro/Am car over a lap and through the wider averages. Hangar Straight speed matters at Silverstone, but it plainly isn’t the whole story.
LMP3 is similar. Ultimate’s #35 has the largest peak figure, while the #85 that dominates the first two sectors is not the quickest through the trap. R-ace GP therefore appears to be finding its advantage around the circuit rather than simply arriving at Stowe faster than everyone else.
LMGT3 provides perhaps the most interesting example. The #59 Aston Martin is consistently excellent through the trap and the #54 Porsche recorded the highest single figure, while the outright pace-setting #23 McLaren sits further down the speed rankings. United’s advantage is being made through the lap, not simply on the Hangar Straight. The #63 Mercedes combines strong straight-line numbers with strong sector performance and remains one of the more interesting race prospects.
Drivers
Tom Dillmann is the obvious LMP2 headline. He owns the fastest lap and the #43 remains quickest as his best laps are averaged together. Reshad de Gérus has also been extremely quick in the sister #34, while Oliver Gray, Ben Barnicoat and Pietro Fittipaldi are all right in the leading group. Inter Europol has not simply arrived with one fast car and one exceptional lap — both cars and several of its drivers have shown genuine pace.
In Pro/Am, Malthe Jakobsen is unsurprisingly right at the sharp end, but the bronze-driver figures are arguably more important for Sunday. Giorgio Roda has been outstanding and is comfortably into territory occupied by much higher-rated drivers. PJ Hyett has also been very strong, while Steven Thomas has put together some competitive running. Those laps can be enormously valuable.
A Pro/Am race is not simply about having the fastest professional. The bronze driver has to do their share, and the strategic challenge is making sure the right driver is in the car at the right moment. Traffic, Safety Cars, tyre condition and when the strongest professionals are circulating can all change the cost of a bronze stint. A quick bronze gives the strategist considerably more freedom.
Louis Iglesias sets the LMP3 standard, with Hugo Schwarze and Matteo Quintarelli very close behind. The driver data backs up the car analysis: there is little to choose between the strongest CLX, R-ace GP and Virage performances, which should make the class particularly interesting once traffic and strategy are added.
Wayne Boyd is the LMGT3 benchmark and has done more than simply produce one big lap. Daniel Serra, Sergio Sette Câmara and Valentin Hasse-Clot are all showing strong pace behind him, while Mathys Jaubert also looks competitive. As ever in GT racing, the race will depend on how effectively those quick drivers can be deployed around the required time from the less experienced members of each crew.
The Goodyear 4 Hours of Silverstone starts at 12:00 noon local time on Sunday, September 13. That is 7:00am on the US East Coast, 4:00am on the West Coast and 4:00pm throughout Kazakhstan.
Four hours of ELMS cars around Silverstone, and #43 going into it with the fastest lap, the fastest averages and two sector benchmarks. Wish I was there.
Sessions:
The #50 Richard Mille AF Corse Ferrari has been withdrawn from the rest of the Silverstone weekend after its heavy FP1 accident, so it did not take part in qualifying and will not start the race1.
Session Improvements
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